South African Business Hub

Things that Won’t Affect Your Credit Score

When it comes to finances there are very few people that won’t need credit at some point in their lives. It could be that they wish to purchase their own home, take out a credit card, arrange an overdraft, take out a quick cash loan or get financed for a vehicle. When it comes to taking out financial agreements credit scores are an extremely important factor as to whether or not you will be accepted. There are many things that can affect your credit rating including not paying your bills on time and the amount of outstanding debt you have remaining. Knowing what can and can’t affect your credit rating can help you to build it up so that when you do need a little extra financial help your credit rating won’t let you down.

Does Your Credit Score Drop When You Check It?

When it comes to finances, there are very few people that won’t need credit at some point in their lives. It could be that they wish to purchase their home, get a credit card, arrange a loan or get financed on a vehicle. When it comes to taking out financial agreements credit scores are a critical factor as to whether or not you will be accepted. Many things can affect your credit rating including not paying your bills on time and the amount of outstanding debt you have remaining. Knowing what can and can’t affect your credit score can help you to build it up so that when you do need a little extra financial help, your credit rating won’t let you down.

Can Medical Bills Affect Credit?

Staying fit and healthy is imperative; however medical care doesn’t come cheap which is why so many people need to take out credit to cover immediate needs and pay back at a later date in installments. If you are wondering if medical bills affect credit, then read on.

At a time of emergency, the last thing that will be on your mind is how you are going to make payments. Unfortunately having medical debt can affect your credit score if you do not keep the repayment agreements. It is not the hospital or doctor that is responsible for affecting the credit scores. However, they will try to chase you down for missed payments. What happens is the debt that is owed will be passed on to a collections agency, and if the bills are still not brought up to date the information will then be added to your credit history. If you do not clear the debt after being prompted by the original lender and Collection Company, you could end up with a mark on your credit score for seven years as well as an additional 180 days from the day you first defaulted.

On the upside, a majority of lenders check credit bureaus that don’t show medical collections. Medical groups do not hinder your credit rating as much as other debts and some credit score providers ignore paid collection amounts. More Americans are affected by their medical debts than you would think. Recent records show that over half of all credit report debt is due to unpaid medical debts. So, yes, medical bills affect your credit. If you are falling behind on payments, do contact the company to see what arrangements can be made to reduce the chance of it affecting your credit scores heavily.

Does Your Credit Score Drop When You Get a Loan?

Credit scores are something you won’t know about unless you check, many people continue with their lives having forgotten that they have an unpaid debt from years before especially if no one contacted them about it. We’re all encouraged to check our credit scores at least annually, but understandably some people are dubious worrying about their credit score dropping when they check it. Your score will not be affected as long as you make sure you use a reputable company that offers quick loans with no credit check. You should check for yourself when possible as the exception to the rule is allowing a lender check for you. Depending on the loan, the lender may run a ‘hard inquiry’ which could affect your score especially if you are refused further credit. The same goes for when you apply for new credit. This will show up on credit scores as an attempt to gain more credit when their current credit scores are already hindered.

Will My Interest Rates Affect My Credit Scores?

Although many things can affect credit scores, your current interest rates are thankfully not one of them. This works both ways if you have a low-interest rate you will not find that your credit score rises. There is a connection between credit scores and interest rates, though. The connection is that lower rates get offered to people with higher scores than those with lower.

Do Rent Payments Affect Credit Scores?

Although it’s advisable to keep up with rent payments so that you can keep your home, it is one of the exceptions to the rule when it comes to credit scores. In the majority of cases paying rent regularly and on time is not something that will make your credit score any higher. However, if you do not pay your rent, you could be evicted which could lead to your credit scores being affected. Another possibility is that your landlord reports the missed payments to the Experian RentBureau which could help or hinder your credit scores but most private owners do not report back.

Do Insurance Payments Affect Credit Scores?

Whether medical, life, vehicle or house insurance you should be aware that your credit scores will be checked to see whether or not the company is willing to insure you. Keeping your credit scores high is a way to reduce future insurance payments. Missing a payment or two is unlikely to affect your credit score, however, if you continually miss payments then the debt will be sold on to a collections agency that could report back affecting your credit scores and your ability to get credit in the future.

Will My Credit Scores Be Affected by Alimony and Child Support Payments?

If you are paying child support or alimony missing a payment or two is unlikely to hinder your credit scores. If you miss a lot of payments and don’t catch up a collection agency may be called in to try to get the payments from you. If this happens, you could find your credit scores drop significantly. As well as harming your credit scores it is a felony not to pay, and you could find yourself being arrested and sued in a court of law for the missed payments. This will hinder your credit scores so it’s best avoided.